Brimfield Patrol Officer Steve Gyoker, who was part of the rescue team, said Hughes wanted to show his friends that he could swim to a sandbar a few hundred yards from shore, but he got caught in a current and was thrown way off course.

Gyoker said the man struggled in the cold water, but managed to make to an island about a mile away. His friends called police for help.

"Once he got near the island, he was very fatigued and cramping up," Gyoker said.

The Suffield Township water rescue boat was dispatched to the reservoir.

As the boat neared the island, Hughes made another mistake, jumping back into the water and trying to swim to the raft.

"Due to his exhaustion and mild hypothermia, he was unable to keep himself up. The victim started to go underwater," said Joe Theil, a Suffield Township firefighter.

Wearing a water rescue suit, Theil jumped into the water and kept Hughes afloat until the boat came to them.

"He just kept saying that it wasn't his best idea, that it was a regrettable decision for sure," Theil said.

While rescue crews were warming up and treating the victim, Officer Gyoker discovered Hughes had an active warrant out of Cuyahoga Falls for criminal damaging.

Hughes was arrested and spent the night in the Cuyahoga Falls jail. He appeared in Stow Municipal Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges related to the criminal damaging, according to police.

Oliver warns people not to go swimming in the dark in a huge lake.

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